Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College baseball team utilized a pair of strong starting pitching performances from Joe Kidd '18 and Conor Bawiec '18 to earn a doubleheader sweep against non-conference opponent Summit University, formerly known as Baptist Bible College.  Kidd and Bawiec combined to throw 11 full innings of one-run ball, allowing just five hits while striking out 13 batters.  With the wins, Elmira is now 5-1 in their last six games. 
 
Elmira's batters also had a good day, as the Soaring Eagles batted .381 as a team with 11 extra-base hits, including eight doubles, two triples, and one home run.  Leading the charge on offense for the Purple and Gold this afternoon was Hayden Rothenberg '17 and Bryce Plante '18.  Rothenberg batted a team-high .800 on the day as he went 4-for-5 from the plate with a pair of doubles, two RBI, two runs scored, and was also a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.  Plante on the other hand had a team-high five hits in the two games, driving-in three runs while scoring three himself. 
 
Game One: Elmira 10, Summit 1
Elmira's bats got off to a quick start in the first game of today's doubleheader as the Soaring Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Rothenberg scored the game's first run on a passed ball before Plante delivered a two-run double that scored Bawiec and Dylan Bellinger '17.
 
The Defenders got one back in the top of the second inning, thanks to a fielding error that extended the inning and put a pair of runners on with two outs.  However, Kidd would get out of the jam by getting Ryan Mitchell to fly out for the final out of the inning. 
 
From there, Elmira would score seven unanswered runs over the next four innings, beginning in the bottom of the second inning when Rothenberg put EC ahead 4-1 with a single through the middle of Summit's infield, scoring Thistle from third.
 
EC scored two more in the bottom of the third as Plante and Jordan Marquez '18 drove-in runs, putting the Purple and Gold on top 6-1.  Elmira quickly made it 9-1 in the fourth inning with runs batted in by Mike Burghardt '18, Bawiec, and Will Jenkins '18. 
 
Elmira's final run of the game came in the fifth inning on a Burghardt groundout that brought in Rothenberg, sealing a 10-1 win for the Soaring Eagles. 
 
Kidd tossed six full innings, allowing three hits, one run, and striking out five batters en route to his first collegiate win.  Anthony Colegrave '18 came in for relief duty in the top of the seventh inning and would shut down the Defenders, as he retired the first three batters he faced, one of which came by strikeout.
 
Game Two: Elmira 10, Summit 4
Game two began just like game one, as the Soaring Eagles scored 10 runs in the first five innings to take a 10-0 lead on the Defenders.  EC's Bellinger drove-in the first run of the game as his two-out single scored Rothenberg.
 
Elmira scored three runs in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run double by Thistle and an RBI single by Rothenberg.  An inning later, Marquez registered the biggest hit of his young EC career as he homered opposite field, scoring three runs on the home run.  Later in the inning, Dennis Rudolph '18 tripled to right field, scoring Thistle to put EC on top 8-0.
 
The Soaring Eagles added another two runs, one in the fourth inning and another in the fifth, thanks to a pair of RBI by Matt van Muelken '18 and Alexander Taulien '17.  van Muelken brought in one run in the fourth while Taulien hit an RBI double in the fifth to put Elmira ahead 10-0.
 
The Defenders answered with a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but it would be too little too late as the Soaring Eagles marched away with back-to-back wins. 
 
Bawiec got the start on the mound for Elmira today and did not disappoint.  The Lebanon, PA native pitched five full innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits while striking out a season-high eight batters.  Mike Ladka '16 also made an appearance today, tossing two innings with three strikeouts.
 
Elmira will be back in action this Tuesday, May 5th, when the Soaring Eagles host Medaille College for a pair of games in EC's regular season finale. Tuesday's doubleheader is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Dunn Field.